“Ready for forever?”
I blinked at him again.
“I don’t want to wait anymore,” he said, watching my face. “I love you. I want you to know that I mean it forever.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t find my breath.
“Audrey, will you marry me?”
Finally, comprehension dawned on me and I nodded my head up and down.
“I’m going out on a limb and guess here—is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes,” I whispered, finding my voice. And then I threw myself at him. “Yes, yes, yes.”
James
The next two days passed in a blur. We’d gone to the police and given statements. We’d also given them my parents’ flight information; the detectives said they would be waiting at the airport when they arrived. They wouldn’t tell us if they would make an arrest, but we knew they would at least question both of my parents. That was something.
I was still having a hard time adjusting to my new reality. This was real. My parents were involved in Danielle’s death. I let the shock, betrayal and disgust course through me as Audrey and I went about our other business. This was my new reality, and it was going to take some time getting used to it.
My parents had always been difficult, but now I found them abhorrent. No matter how distant we’d become, that wasn’t an easy thing for a son to feel.
Audrey and I went to New Horizons, and I’d finally met Tommy. “This is James,” Audrey told him. “I love him, and you will, too. He wants us to move to California with him.”
“What about Mom?” Tommy had asked.
Audrey had shrugged. “She’ll probably come out and visit, even though I don’t want her to. Because she’s Mom.”
They both laughed at that.
Then we paid a visit to East Boston. Because before we got to my horrible mother, we had to deal with Audrey’s. We had to make sure she was completely on board with my proposed agreement. She had to promise not to blackmail us and/or communicate with my mother, in exchange for my private investigator’s silence on her ongoing parole violations and a large sum of money being wired into her bank account.
Mrs. Reynolds was wearing an old Pour House T-shirt and hadn’t bothered to clean her apartment, but she did say she was happy to see us.
“You’re happy to see me?” Audrey asked, flabbergasted.
“Mostly him,” Mrs. Reynolds said, lighting a cigarette and jutting her chin out at me.
Audrey gave me a quick look and turned back to her mother, her brow furrowed. “Didn’t that investigator come over here?” she asked. “And tell you about his file?”
“Yeah,” her mother said, exhaling in Audrey’s face. “He didn’t bother me none. I mean, once he told me what I was gonna get.”
I pretended to study my phone while Audrey gave me a scathing look.
“What exactly are you going to get?” she asked her mother.
Mrs. Reynolds looked at me too, possibly waiting for some sort of direction. I continued to study my phone, not wanting to admit anything. Audrey sighed. “Never mind, Ma,” she said, resigned. “I’ll get it out of him later.”
It was quiet for a beat. I looked up just in time to see Mrs. Reynolds holding her hand over her chest, clutching at her heart and staring at Audrey’s left hand. “Sweet baby Jesus in the manger,” she said, “is that an engagement ring?”
“Yes. It is.” Audrey sighed again. “James and I are getting married. And I’m moving to California with him. And we’re bringing Tommy.” Audrey looked defiantly at her mother.
“Well. Huh. Okay,” her mother said, agreeably enough, not missing a beat.
Audrey appeared speechless, like the wind had been knocked out of her. “Okay?” She looked suspiciously at me again. “How much freaking money did you give her?”
“Enough,” I said innocently.
“I know you’ll take good care of Tommy,” Mrs. Reynolds said, interrupting us. “And I’ll come out to visit all the time.”
Audrey looked at her in horror, her eyes wide. “Visit… us?”
“And stay at a hotel, Miss Holier Than Thou. Your boyfriend—I mean, your fiancé—has made all of that possible.”
“I thought you didn’t like him,” Audrey said, jerking her thumb at me. “I thought you said he was prick masquerading as a gentleman.”
“Yeah, but things change,” her mother said and shrugged. “Except you. You’ll always think you’re too good for me.”
“That’s because I am,” Audrey said.
Her mother laughed a little, and then took another deep drag. “Well, you are holier than thou. And I’m sure as hell not.”